An innovative training model for an organization embracing technology

The significance of information technology (IT) for modern business and, indeed, research in general cannot be questioned, as its sheer pervasiveness adequately attests. However, simplistic views of technological utopianism are now being offset by accounts of technological dystopianism. Clearly organizational management have wholeheartedly subscribed to an IT future as a staggering 41 percent of total capital expenditure in US organizations currently goes on IT. However, organizations face enormous difficulty in trying to achieve successful training programmes in the instruction and use of IT. This research study involved the construction and implementation of an IT training programme to inform midcareer employees, in a large multinational organization, of the benefits of IT. Davis (1989) identified two constructs as relevant to user acceptance of technology, namely ease of use (EOU) and perceived usefulness (PU). These constructs were operationalised into a set of principles to underpin the training programme which was delivered in two phases, each specifically addressing one of Davis’ constructs. While the research is at an early stage, some preliminary lessons have been learned. For example, Davis’ chain of causality operates in a fairly simple linear fashion, in that ease of use (EOU) is identified as a necessary pre-condition before perceived usefulness (PU) can be achieved. However, our research would suggest that this relationship is more interrelated and complex. Early signs suggest that the relationship between ease of use and perceived usefulness is not a simple linear sequential one whereby EOU must first be established as a necessary precondition for PU which in turn successfully leads to user acceptance of technology. Rather, the perceived usefulness of the technology can serve as a significant motivator initially which will help overcome EOU issues. Thus rather than operating in a sequential chain, the EOU and PU constructs may operate in a parallel cyclical fashion.